LAS VEGAS, CES 2012 — One trend we weren’t expecting to see at CES was the enormous amount of ultra-portable speakers every company is trying to sell. The type that look like a soda can cut in half that pops up to reveal a speaker that has the magical “unparalleled sound quality” all their makers brag about. For over twenty years Behringer has produced professional audio products, but have only recently decided to enter the consumer space. So what does a high-quality audio company do to make themselves stand out in a market saturated with mediocre speaker products? Make a really really nice ultra-portable speaker? WRONG! They go and create the biggest iPod Dock ever that makes those minature docks look miserably insignificant.

LAS VEGAS, CES 2012 – This Chinese case maker, the Shenzhen Reflying Corporation, is already hyping their apparently incredible iPad 3 cases at their iLounge booth.

Unfortunately, upon being asked to see one of the cases, Reflying’s representative sheepishly admitted that they didn’t have any inside intel on the iPad 3, or any prototypes knocking about. Instead, they apparently want everyone to know that when the iPad 3 comes out, their company will continue to boldly figure a way to wrap vinyl, rubber, leather and latex around a whole new generation of tablet, and not, in fact, immediately disappear in a puff of vapor, their purpose on this green earth completed.

And thus, the eternal wheel of CES continues to slowly and inexorably revolve.

LAS VEGAS, CES 2012 – A week or so ago, I quipped that come CES, we’d probably see Samsung continuing its pathological plagiarism of years-old iOS designs by unveiling a new Galaxy smartphone modeled after the Apple Newton PDA.

Looks like I wasn’t that far off. Check out the monstrous beast of a phone that is the Samsung Galaxy Note. It’s a 5.3-inch smartphone with a frickin’ built-in stylus, coming to the States in February.

Here’s what it looks like side-by-side with an iPhone. You seriously can’t make this stuff up. It’s beyond parody.

Apple has seeded a new build of Lion 10.7.3 to registered developers in the Dev Center. Following the release of iOS 5.1 beta 3 yesterday, Build 11D42 of Lion 10.7.3 is now available for developers to download and test.

XtremeMac has unveiled three InCharge docking stations for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch at CES today. The InCharge Duo Plus, InCharge X3 and InCharge X5 multi-dock chargers provide 10 watts of energy per dock for simultaneously charging multiple iOS devices at once.

With CES in full effect, it’s been an extremely busy couple of days for Android. In fact, I was so absorbed in CES news, I forgot to post yesterday’s Android roundup (I bet you thought it was going to go away). Good news is we’re still here, and for anyone interested in what has been going on in the world of Android, we encourage you to head over to Cult of Android. Here’s a recap of some of the news-making headlines today.

Apple’s VP of worldwide iPod, iPhone, and iOS product marketing, Greg Joswiak, has been spotted on the show floor at CES “scouting the competition.” paidContent caught up with the Apple exec in Las Vegas at this week’s 2012 CES convention.

Eastman Kodak has announced its plans to sue Apple and HTC for violating several of its patents relating to digital imaging. The once-profitable camera company claims that Apple’s iOS devices and HTC’s smartphones infringe on Kodak patents for transmitting images digitally and between devices.

Today Amazon launched an iPad-optimized Kindle Store web app. Visiting amazon.com/iPadKindleStore on the iPad will now take you to Amazon’s new web portal for buying ebooks from Apple’s tablet.

Once you’ve logged into your Amazon account, you’ll be able to browse and purchase ebooks in Mobile Safari on the iPad. Your purchases will then be pushed by Amazon to your Kindle device or Kindle iOS app.

LAS VEGAS, CES 2012 – The remarkable success of Mophie’s Juice Pack Air has inevitably resulted in a locust storm of battery case also-rans at this year’s CES, but of the lot of them, the Boost Case Hybrid is the one we like best. Why? Because Boost Case understands that you don’t always want to carry around all that extra battery. They just want to make it easy for you when you do.

LAS VEGAS, CES 2012 – According to maker iDevices, who made news last year with an odd Bluetooth cooking thermometer called the iGrill, the iShower’s entire raison d’être is to remove the “oh crap!” factor of dropping your iOS device into the shower, sink or toilet when all you want to do is listen to some tunes.

LAS VEGAS, CES 2012 – Here’s the secret business of most polyurethane iPhone screen protectors: they know you’re not going to be able to get it on perfectly aligned without bubbles or pieces of grit underneath. In fact, they’re counting on you making a mash of things, and having to buy an expensive replacement.

But that business model is a double-edged sword, thinks Pure Gear. Sure, make the process of applying a polyurethane shield difficult and you might sell first-time buyers two instead of one the first time. But since the process is such a pain in the butt, and so hard to get right, many consumers never try again after the first time they mess it up.

That’s where Pure Gear’s incredible new shield applying tech comes in. Called the PureTek Roll-On, Pure Gear’s solution makes applying a polyurethane shield to your iPhone as easy as rolling a new coat of paint on the wall.

LAS VEGAS, CES 2012 — After recently winning Apple’s “App of the Year” award, the popular photo-editing app, Snapseed, is making its way to the Mac to provide the same amazing functionality for OS X that iPhone and iPad users have grown to love. We had a chance to meet up with Nik Software (developers of Snapseed) and see the app in action, and we have to say, we’re pretty stoked that the Mac is getting this awesome app.

Apple production partner Foxconn has been tied to worker suicides in the past, but a new wrinkle emerged earlier this month. According to reports, a group of 300 Chinese employees building Xbox 360 game consoles threatened suicide by jumping off the roof of a factory.

Apple is a tease – and that’s a good thing, according to new research figures. The late announcement of an iPhone 4S created such pent-up demand among consumers that the Cupertino, Calif. tech giant came within a breath of Android’s U.S. smartphone lead. A wave of sales during the third quarter of 2011 pushed Apple’s share of the U.S. smartphone market to 43 percent, just shy of Android’s 47 percent share.

LAS VEGAS, CES 2012 – Want to see at a glance everything that’s wrong with Sony? Look at that monstrosity above. It’s Sony’s new TV remote, and while the Japanese electronics maker prattled on about its wireless capabilities, backlit keyboard and VoIP microphone, the rest of the industry at CES is showing off voice- and gesture- controlled Smart TVs in anticipation of Apple’s entry into the market.

Totally clueless. Sony’s press event on Monday evening was like watching a company that had never even heard of Apple, let alone seen it in the last five years topple Sony’s lead in multiple industries.

Jeremy Horwitz, Editor-in-Chief over at iLounge, claims to have gotten up close and personal with a rear shell from Apple’s next-generation iPad 3. Thanks to his hands-on, Horwitz can reveal that the new device will indeed be slightly thicker than its predecessor (though you won’t notice it), with a much-improved iPhone-like camera, minus the LED flash.

No one enjoys slapping a case on their iPhone. They add weight, extra bulk, and almost always ruin the beautiful look of your device. If you want to protect it, however, there’s no other way.

Or is there? A company called Liquipel claims to make your iPhone waterproof without a case. It uses a special water resistant “nano” coating which repels water, allowing you to actually submerge you device into a bucket of juice — naked — without killing it.

If you’re listening to music in the background while you use other apps on your iOS device, it’s quick and easy to control your Music app by using the buttons in the multitasking tray. If you have a faulty home button, however — which is a common problem on Apple’s iOS devices — you may have an issue.

Thankfully, SpringPod offers an alternative solution by adding music controls to your home screen.

The Wall Street Journal reports Apple may have developed a modified version of its iPhone compatible with China Telecom’s “CDMA-2000” network. The device is set to make its debut in China this Friday, but as things currently stand, it’s to be exclusive to China Unicom.

LAS VEGAS, CES 2012 – At CES last year, Nikon booth-guy Lindsay wasn’t subdued, but he definitely wasn’t as rambunctious as he was tonight when I got him talking about the new D4. Let me tell you, this guy really loves the D4. I’m a fan too though, so it was fun getting him to walk us through some of the camera’s new features.

Nuance, a speech recognition company that powers Apple’s Siri service, has launched a new voice-controlled platform for television sets called Dragon TV. The service allows you to navigate your way around different content by “speaking channel numbers, station names, show and movie names” using natural language.

It’s everything you’d expect a Siri-powered Apple TV to be.

Accompanying the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 back in November was a new service from Activision called Call of Duty Elite, which allows gamers to do all sorts of fancy things outside of the game such as monitor their stats, customize their classes, view action reports from previous matches, and more.

Activision promised the service would make its way to the iPhone with an official Call of Duty Elite app, and today, it’s available to download for free from the App Store.

LAS VEGAS, CES 2012 – Sphero is a fun little gadget indeed. Paired with your iPhone, you can make the Sphero roll this way and that. You can also change its color on the fly. And if you own a cat, well, just watch the video and let your imagination do the work.

The Sphero was at CES last year, but only as a rough prototype. They just started shipping in December, so if you’d like to pick one up, you can do so on Amazon or on Sphero’s website for $129.

Go get one, your kitty will think its purrr-fect.

Corning is at CES in Las Vegas this week to unveil its next-generation Gorilla Glass, which it promises is as tough and scratch-resistant as ever, designed to withstand the “unexpected abuses of everyday life.” It’s likely to take over its predecessor in future iOS devices, helping Apple make slimmer yet stronger iPhones, iPads, and iPods.